Material handling bucket

ABSTRACT

A material handling bucket having a U-shaped scoop piece and inclosing side walls attached to opposite ends of the piece. An elongated piece extends along the upper back surface of the scoop piece and is welded to it for torsionally reinforcing the bucket. Only two spaced-apart ears are welded to the back of the scoop piece and onto a portion of the elongated piece, and the ears carry trunnions for pivotal support of the bucket on lift arms.

United States Patent 1191 Maurer 14 1 Apr. 30, 1974 MATERIAL HANDLING BUCKET [75] Inventor: Herman J. Maurer, Terre Haute,

Ind.

[73] Assignee: J. 1. Case Company, Racine, Wis.

[22] Filed: Mar. 27, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 238,402

[52] us. Cl. 214/145, 37/118 A [51] Int. Cl E02f 3/70 [58] Field of Search 214/145; 37/118 R, 118 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,034,237 5/1962 Wolfe 214/145 3,093,917 6/1963 Schroeder 37/118 R 2,783,903 3/1957 Beyerstedt 214/145 3,161,306 12/1964 Granryd 37/118 R 3,109,248 11/1963 Vos 37/118 R 3,523,621 8/1970 Anderson 37/118 R Pn'mary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant ExaminerJohn Mannix Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Arthur J. Hansmann 1 ABSTRACT A material handling bucket having a U-shaped scoop piece and inclosing side walls attached to opposite ends of the piece. An elongated piece extends along the upper back surface of the scoop piece and is welded to it for torsionally reinforcing the bucket. Only two spaced-apart ears are welded to the back of the scoop piece and onto a portion of the elongated piece, and the ears carry trunnions for pivotal support of the bucket on lift arms.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures MATERIAL HANDLING BUCKET This invention relates to a material handling bucket, such as a loader bucket, back-hoe bucket, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Material handling buckets are commonly used on tractors and like supporting vehicles which have lift arms or the like for moving the bucket between a scooping position and an elevated dumping position. These buckets of course include loader buckets and backhoe buckets, and they commonly have a scoop piece with a forward lip which digs into the material being lifted, and these buckets are pivotally supported on the powering vehicle and the buckets can be raised and then tipped for dumping the material. One such prior art bucket is shown in U. S. Pat. No. 2,783,903 which shows the general pivot mounting of a bucket and which also shows some of the problems of making a sturdy bucket, which problems are solved by the present invention. Thus, the prior art has been concerned with providing a bucket which has a pivot mounting for lift arms supported on a tractor, and which is sufficientlysturdy to handle material as well as to be subjected to the impact forces attending the scooping and dumping of material.

The present invention is therefore directed at the provision of a material handling bucket which is of maximum durability but yetis of minimum structural parts but without sacrificing any strength or maneuverability or efficiency in the use of the bucket. In accomplishing this objective, the bucket of this invention is arranged so that its several parts are integrated into a welded structure which has maximum strength in the end-to-end structural consideration of the bucket, such as considering the torsional forces acting upon the bucket which is pivotally mounted on its rear side for scooping and dumping, as mentioned.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a material handling bucket which is of maximum strength and durability but made ofa minimum of parts with a minimum of weight to the parts. In the accomplishment of this invention, as shown in the disclosure herein, the bucket is provided with a reinforcing piece extending in contact with the rear upper lip of the bucket, and the bucket is provided with only two spaced-apart ears which are inter-connected between the bucket scoop piece and the reinforcing piece, and no more than the two ears are required for the complete articulation of the bucket as heretofore maneuvered according to the buckets of the prior art. The ad: ditional benefit of the accomplishment of this object is the elimination of a consderable amount of welding which was heretofore required in the welded type of material handling bucket. In fact, in material handling buckets of commonly used and well-known sizes, the present invention permits the elimination of over feet of welding, as compared to prior art buckets of the same capacity. Additionally, the present invention permits the elimination of at least a score of parts, as compared to prior art buckets of the same capacity as that in the bucket disclosed herein.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a material handling bucket which has its upper edge, which is commonly known as the spill-guard edge, reinforced so that the edge is not protruding by itself and thus available for and susceptible to bending and general damage by the material being handled. This particular object is significant in the consideration of handling rocks and broken concrete which commonly cause expensive damage to the spill-guard edge of prior art buckets.

Other objects include the provision of a material handling bucket which is of a lighter weight and therefor capable of handling a greater weight of material without any increase in the effort expended or the capacity of the lift elements. That is, in the bucket made according to this invention, and comparing it on a similar capacity basis to buckets of the prior arts, the bucket of this invention can be up to approximately 20 per cent lighter while maintaining the same volume capacity and same strength, compared to prior art buckets.

Another object of this invention is to provide a material handling bucket which solves the problem of material packing between the bucket and the lift arms to impede the pivotal movement of the bucket on the arms. In accomplishing this object, the bucket of this invention avoids the customary provision of two spacedapart ears between which material commonly collects and hinders the freedom of the pivotal action.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bucket showing a preferred embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged rear elevational view of a fragment of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows the bucket, generally designated 10, pivotally mounted on four booms or arms 11 and 12, as shown in two pairs. The bucket includes a U-shaped scoop piece 13 having a curved central portion 14 and two legs 16 and 17. The leg portion 16 presents a bucket front edge supporting a piece 18, which engages the material being picked up by the loader-type bucket shown. A reinforcing piece 19 extends along the bottom surface of the lower and forward projecting legs 16. The upper end 17 serves as a spill guard in preventing the material from spilling out of the bucket when the bucket is tipped back, and of course the material would be supported in the front face or on the front surface 19 of the scoop piece 13, in the conventional manner.

An elongated piece 21 extends for the entire length of the scoop piece 13, and the piece 21 is shown bent about its longitudinal axis designated '22 so that the piece presents a leg portion 23 and a leg portion 24, as shown. The leg portion 24 is in contact with the bucket scoop piece rear surface 26 and is welded thereto along the length of the pieces and at the location designated 27. The elongated piece 21 also has its end 28 aligned with and in contact with the end 29 of the scoop piece 13. Then, the two ends are welded together for the entire length of the two pieces, and such weld is designated 31. Further, it will be seen that the scoop piece marginal edge or end is bent or offset at 32. Thus, as clearly seen in FIG. 2, the spill-guard portion 17 of the 3 scoop piece 13, and the elongated piece 21, together form a tubular construction which serves two distinct purposes, one of the purposes is to give torsional strength in the end-to-end structure of the bucket, and

- another purpose is to give support to the spill-guard portion 17 of the scoop piece 13. The latter purpose is accomplished in that there is no free projecting thickness or thin sheet of the upper end of the scoop piece 13, since the two ends 28 and 29 are aligned and welded together, as shown and described.

The bucket also has two side walls 33 and 34 welded to the opposite ends of the scoop piece 13 and also to the opposite ends of the elongated piece 21. Thus the scoop piece 13 and the elongated piece 21 and the two sides 33 and 34 all form an integral bucket of optimum strength but with a minimum of gauge and overall size of parts.

Two spaced-apart ears 36 and 37 extend along the back surface 26 of the scoop piece 13, and the upper ends of these two ears 36 and 37 also extend along the entire length of the leg 24 of the elongated piece 21. The ears 36 and 37 are welded to the scoop rear surface 26, along the line designated 38, and the ears 36 and 37 are also welded to the leg 24, along the line designated 39. Thus the cars 36 and 37 serve to addition ally connect the scoop piece 13 and the elongated piece 21. Further, it is significant to note that there is a total of only two ears 36 and 37, and these ears serve as the pivotal connections for the booms or lift arms 1 1 and 12. Thus the cars 36 and 37 are each provided with two spaced-apart pins or trunnions 41 which are secured to the ears 36' and 37 by bolts 42 extending through flanged heads 43 on the trunnions 41. Thus,

the flanged heads 43 are on one side ofrthe ears 36 and 37, and the trunnions 41 project through an opening in the ears 36 and 37 to extend beyond the other side of the ears and to provide the pivot mounting for the respective arms 1 l and 12. FIG. 3 shows that the arms 11 and 12 can be provided with openings 44 which receive the trunnions 41, and a washer 46 can cover the openings 44, and a snap ring 47 can secure the assembly as shown.

With this arrangement, there is no easy way in which material can accumulate between the lift arms and the bucket itself to impede pivotal movement 'of the bucket. Additionally, the provision of only two ears 36 and 37, with the trunnions as disclosed, and particularly including the large heads 43 and sturdy trunnion pins, does not sacrifice strength in the-bucket, and such is possible with the integration of the ears 36 and 37 along with the elongated piece 21, all related to the scoop piece 13. Thus the arrangement with only two of said scoop piece to present the sides of the bucket for retaining the material in the bucket, said other of said leg portions having a bent end portion which is rearwardly off-set from the plane of the portion of said scoop'piece contiguous to said bent end portion and relative to said front surface of said scoop piece and terminating in a straight upper edge extending for the entire iength of said scoop piece, a V-shaped elongated piece extending the length of said scoop piece and having two spaced-apart edges extending for the length of said elongated piece and being welded along one of its said edges to the upper rear surface of said scoop piece and being welded along its said other of said edges to said straight upper edge of said scoop piece, and said elongated piece being bent about its straight axis along its length to have a central portion extending through out the length of said elongated piece in a position spaced away from said rear surface, said elongated piece being disposed on said scoop piece to present a reinforcement to said scoop piece and to form a torsion tube with said scoop piece for strengthening said scoop piece, a plurality of cars spaced apart on the rear surface of said scoop piece at opposite ends of said scoop piece and being in contact with said elongated piece and being welded to said scoop piece and said elongated piece, and trunnions on said ears for pivotally supporting said bucket on said trunnions.

2. The bucket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said side walls are welded to the ends of said elongated piece and extend completely over the space between said elongated piece and said scoop piece for enclosing the ends of the tubular formation presented by said elongated piece and said scoop piece.

3. The bucket as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are only two of said ears, and said trunnions have flanged heads for bolting to one side of respective ones of said ears, and said trunnions have pin ends extending through said ears for pivotal support of said bucket on lift arms connectable to said pin ends. 

1. A material handling bucket comprising a U-shaped scoop piece having a front surface for retaining material and having two spaced-apart leg portions, one of which lifts the material being picked up and the other of which retains the material against spilling off the scoop piece, a side wall attached to each opposite end of said scoop piece to present the sides of the bucket for retaining the material in the bucket, said other of said leg portions having a bent end portion which is rearwardly off-set from the plane of the portion of said scoop piece contiguous to said bent end portion and relative to said front surface of said scoop piece and terminating in a straight upper edge extending for the entire length of said scoop piece, a Vshaped elongated piece extending the length of said scoop piece and having two spaced-apart edges extending for the length of said elongated piece and being welded along one of its said edges to the upper rear surface of said scoop piece and being welded along its said other of said edges to said straight upper edge of said scoop piece, and said elongated piece being bent about its straight axis along its length to have a central portion extending throughout the length of said elongated piece in a position spaced away from said rear surface, said elongated piece being disposed on said scoop piece to present a reinforcement to said scoop piece and to form a torsion tube with said scoop piece for strengthening said scoop piece, a plurality of ears spaced apart on the reaR surface of said scoop piece at opposite ends of said scoop piece and being in contact with said elongated piece and being welded to said scoop piece and said elongated piece, and trunnions on said ears for pivotally supporting said bucket on said trunnions.
 2. The bucket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said side walls are welded to the ends of said elongated piece and extend completely over the space between said elongated piece and said scoop piece for enclosing the ends of the tubular formation presented by said elongated piece and said scoop piece.
 3. The bucket as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are only two of said ears, and said trunnions have flanged heads for bolting to one side of respective ones of said ears, and said trunnions have pin ends extending through said ears for pivotal support of said bucket on lift arms connectable to said pin ends. 